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New member - My first Mustang

4K views 46 replies 17 participants last post by  sns109 
#1 ·
Hey everyone - First post here. I'm picking up my first mustang next weekend. 2013 GT premium track pack with electronics and comfort packages. Also has the dealer installed Ford Power Pack. She's pretty much loaded. 20k miles. I've owned a 77 vette original and a 92 vette heavily modified. Always wanted a GT. I'm looking forwarded to learning about this car. I'm sure I will be posting many questions in the future. I'm not into major modifications. Prefer keeping it basically stock. Just thought I'd reach out and see what must haves I should be thinking about and things to keep my eye on? First thing I believe I will be needing is a set of tires. I look forward to talking with you all.
 
#3 ·
Congrats! Post a pic of her when you can.
 
#4 ·
Even if you want to stay stock, do your self a favor and get a good tune. Drivability is much better than stock with one.
 
#6 ·
Congrats! Sounds like a great find. Those options make for a very nice car. Love to see some pics! :thumb:
 
#9 ·
Sounds like he already has the Ford Pro Cal tune, I run that as well, nice safe tune. I know you don't want to do major mods, but I believe suspension and mgw race spec shifter or Blowfish shifter mount (if you have manual trans) are necessities. If you plan on driving in sporty manner need to upgrade these.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Yes, it has the Ford tune. Prior owner also added a Boss 302 shift knob and boot (not sure what improvement that gives). The thing I like about this car is, with the exception of the tune and shift knob, it is 100% stock/unmolested.

I was really holding out for a sterling gray gt. Settled on black since it was my 2nd choice and this one was a premium with the electronics pack which seems to be a rare find. I'm thinking the added bells and whistles will outweigh the color choice. I would like to make some subtle exterior changes to produce a more aggressive look. First improvements I'm thinking, since they are relatively affordable, will be window tint, quarter window louvers, side scoops and maybe roush splitters. Possible front grill/fog light relocate kit. then maybe rims and new tread.

Suspension, I may have to save up for but I understand it is a huge improvement.
 

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#13 · (Edited)
Very nice car. :thumb: I would go with the suspension upgrades before you do too much else to the car. Handling is not a strong point of the stock car. It will make it even more fun to drive! All of those upgrade ideas are great ones. Keep us updated with pics are you go along. Enjoy!
 
#18 ·
I also run the Steeda springs. Shocks/stuts should be replaced, Koni adjustable or STR.T shocks are both nice. Ford GT500 strut mount (2010 Koni strut needs to be used with these) A lowered car will also need lower control arm relocation brackets (BMR), lower control arms should be upgraded (many good choices here), adjustable panhard bar. If driveshaft pinion angle is off you may also need adjustable upper control arm and good to have upgraded mount. I'm using stock 2 piece driveshaft so my pinion angle is good with the Steeda sport springs. This is pretty much the setup I'm using 1,000% better than stock setup.
I drive my car as a sports car, mostly rural roads so I can get pretty aggressive at times. With the stock setup the car felt so unsettled under braking I had to get all my braking done prior to turn. Now I can trail brake and not upset the car, much safer and pleasurable driving experience.
Now if your car is a city cruiser, I wouldn't bother with suspension first. Then I would do shifter first, the stock shifter setup is simply atrocious. Shifting is notchy, you will get locked out of third under hard acceleration. Y
You have to be very deliberate with shifting stock setup, unbelievable how much this slows down acceleration. I've tried half measures, such as better shift mounts, inserts, they help but not enough. I finally gave up and got the MGW Race Spec shifter, haven't installed but has highest marks. This shifter mounts directly to transmission, any shifter that uses a body mount will have shifting issues. The Blowfish Racing shifter mount is also highly rated, lower priced alternative to MGW. Royal Purple Syncromax tranny fluid and a stainless steel clutch line will finish off shifting issues hopefully for good (I will find out shortly after installing all these items).
I get my parts from LMR, CJ Pony Parts, Lethal Perf., American Muscle, Dallas Mustang Parts, Summit Racing, can't recall some other vendors.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Very nice looking car.
I had a 14TrakPak and just a couple of things to keep in mind is the your TrakPak runs 5w50 engine oil instead of the normal GT which runs 5w30.
Your TrakPak does have Brembo front 14" brakes with 4 piston calipers, different shocks and struts, also it has an aluminum rearend cover for better cooling plus 3:73 gears. It also has an engine oil cooler and a Boss 302 radiator and core support...so it's not just a run of the mill GT.
If it were me I'd change the springs, drive it for awhile and then you can start replacing shocks/struts/strut mounts. Not sure what the drop is on the Steeda springs although I used Eibach's which lowered the rear 2" and the fron 1.5". I never had an issue with the stock TrakPak struts or shocks in the 8,000 miles that I drove it with the lowered springs. In the 5 2011 through 2014 Mustangs I helped lower we never had any issue with alignment and even on mine it was within Ford factory specs.
It all depends on how deep your pockets are although you don't need to go crazy on changing suspension parts unless you want to carve canyon roads or take it to the track...IMHO
 
#28 ·
No.
 
#22 · (Edited)
OK so now that I've had the car for a few days and constantly grinning at every glance, I've decided to not get too carried away with appearance mods. This thing looks nasty in stock form. I've decided to just tint the windows and add side scoops. Don't care for the look of louvers and prefer to not create a blind spot. I may look into a raised c/s spoiler . I believe this to be a situation where less is better.

After driving it the past few days all I can say is this thing is a riot!! And what's even more exciting is that I just found out the prior owner turned off the tune prior to selling it and forgot to tell me. So, hopefully I'm in for more thrills. I've made an appointment with a local ford dealership to install the steeda springs and reset the tune. ( I'm taking olerodder's advice and see how the springs work with the track pack equipment) anyone have opinions on this? Lastly, I'm realizing I may very well like having a short throw shifter. This stock shifter does feel kinda sloppy and long. I'm contemplating buying the MGW race and having the dealer install that as well. I'm just still unsure if I will be happy with it for my intended use of the car.

I purchased this as 50th bday gift. I'm already starting to feel 30 years younger!! I fear local PD will be getting to know me this summer 😀
 

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#23 ·
Since your worried about blind spots I wouldn't get the CS spoiler. I have a 2014 GT/CS and the spoiler limits your view out the rear window. You can still see out of it but my last mustang was spoilerless and the view was much better. I would say the spoiler takes up about 1/4 of you view.
 
#25 ·
Lowering springs alone will create relational issues in rest of suspension. When lowering springs, body to chassis center line changes, thus, need for adjustable panhard bar (keeps body centered over chassis). People who only change out springs mention increased issues with rear wheel hop on hard acceleration. Lowering car changes lower rear control arm position relative to axle such that it will now be raised at axle side, ie. the increased wheel hop. For maximum traction without wheel hop, lower rear control arm needs to be relocated to a lower than stock position (needs to be aprox. parallel to ground, or even slightly lower at axle), ie. the control arm relocation bracket. I've also heard complaints of ride harshness with control arm higher at rear axle. Stock shocks also won't be in working in their intended zone of compression, will always be pre-loaded to some extent, could lead to a more harsh ride. Finally, I would think there could be interference with stock bump stops, I purchased Ford Racing jounce kit (shorter bump stops). I've heard of some shaving down stock bump stops.
In summation, while spring installation alone is doable, I believe you will encounter the above issues eventually. Many offer entire suspension packages with good reason, all these parts work in concert with each other.
As for MGW shifter, I'm still waiting on mine. There will be more vibration than stock, check YouTube videos and other reviews for this. Very few complain that its excessive.
 
#26 ·
I totally forgot about he adjustable panhard bar and should have mentioned it in my original post...this is something you should get and it will center the rearend/tires/wheels under the car so one side won't be sticking out further than the other side...a simple fix.
I assume that the Steeda springs are the mild lower and not like my Sportline Eibach's which were 1.5" in front and 2" in the rear. Going 1 or 1.5" in front and back will not give much harsher ride than the TrakPak springs/shocks/struts and your suspension will still be within Ford Specs...drive it this way for a while and see how you like it and give it a couple of hundred miles for the springs to settle.
Hopefully the Steeda springs will come with bump stops that are shortened, if not it's easy to cut yours...I just don't know that much about Steeda parts.
Unless you are going to road race just lowering the TrakPak will be fine and you can decide where you want to go from there.
Yes, I had Whiteline adjustable UCA and adjustable LCA's...I've been working on drag race and road race suspensions for a long time and did pre-load mine to get away from wheel hop...of which I had very little once I lower the car and still had the stock LCA's and UCA. Also, the TrakPak suspension is not your stock GT suspension and is a lot more forgiving than the stock GT.
The only cosmetic addition you may or may not like is the GT-500 rear valance and twin tip mufflers, I put them on myself although you need to remove the entire rear bumper on the Mustang it's very doable...they also beat the stock muffler and for some of us "real ole guys", the mellow sound is perfect. Kind of like 50 years ago...If you car didn't go fast you chromed everything, and now days if it doesn't go fast you make it loud an obnoxious...just my 3 cents.
 
#27 ·
Take a look at my garage pictures of the 14 TrakPak. The one that looks like it's a 4 wheel drive was when I bought it with 2.400 miles and the other in the driveway is right after I lowered it...with Eibach Sportlines.
My plan was to keep the Brembo wheels and have the rears widened to 10-1/2" but I good a real good deal on some 6000 miles take offs from a 14 GT-500 so I didn't follow through. I do love the Brembo Wheels though.
 
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